This city is ours with you: Vera Alentova has died

Vera Alentova, an actress who served for 60 years at the Moscow Pushkin Drama Theater, has died. She played many theatrical roles, but the role of Katerina in Vladimir Menshov's film "Moscow does not believe in Tears" brought her all-Union fame. It was not by chance that Alentova managed to make her character close to every viewer: in her own life there were also many difficult moments and sharp turns: the early death of her father, lack of money, constant moving, working at a factory... And yet, despite everything, she, like her heroine, managed to achieve her dream. Izvestia recalls the brightest pages of Vera Alentova's biography.

An actress from the cradle

Vera Alentova (Bykova on her father's side) was born on February 21, 1942 in Kotlas, Arkhangelsk region. Both of her parents, Valentin Bykov and Irina Alentova, were actors. They met while studying at the Arkhangelsk Drama School and served at the Kotlas Drama Theater. When the girl was four years old, her father died suddenly from complications after a cold. After that, Irina Alentova and her daughter moved to Krivoy Rog. There, her mother worked in a local theater, working as a sewing worker in her spare time: there was always not enough money. Soon she married director Yuri Orlov. He could not find a job in Krivoy Rog, often went away to earn extra money, so he did not take much part in the upbringing of his stepdaughter. Soon the couple broke up, and Alentova and her mother moved to Uzbekistan, lived in Kokand, then in Ferghana, where the mother of the future actress managed to get a room in an actor's dormitory. In Ferghana, young Vera appeared on stage for the first time, playing in a play based on Chekhov's play "Jubilee".

When Vera graduated from the ninth grade, the family moved again, this time to Barnaul. Vera's mother remarried, to actor Yuri Novikov, and together they got a job at the Barnaul Youth Theater. By that time, Vera, who had grown up in an acting family, was already hopelessly "sick of the theater," although her mother did not approve of her choice. That is why, after graduating from high school in 1959, she applied to the Barnaul Medical Institute, while secretly signing up for an audition at the Altai Drama Theater, where she was immediately enrolled in the auxiliary staff. After that, Alentova deliberately failed the last medical exam and told her parents everything.

Irina Alentova did not want to accept her daughter's choice, but her stepfather stood up for the talented girl. As a result, the family came to a compromise: Vera has been working in non-creative work for a year, after which she will enter a theater university. So after school, Alentova turned out to be a laborer at the Barnaul melange plant. As the actress later recalled, this experience was very useful to her in working on the role of Katerina, who went through all the steps of the factory career ladder, starting from the very bottom. In order to enroll in the capital's university, Alentova needed two years and experience as an actress at the Orsk Drama Theater, where she played the role of Maya in the play "Irkutsk Story." In 1961, Alentova entered the Moscow Art Theater Studio School, the course of Vasily Markov.

The star role

Alentova first met her future husband, Vladimir Menshov, during the entrance exams. As Alentova later recalled, she did not like the intrusive young man at first. But Menshov proved persistent, and in 1963 he and Alentova got married.

The wedding was celebrated together with classmates in the student dormitory, where they were given a separate room. the newlyweds did not have any other housing. Only six years later, after the birth of her daughter Yulia, Alentova, who had already served at the Pushkin Drama Theater, received a separate apartment. At the same time, in 1969, the actress officially took her mother's last name.

Vera studied well, her roles in student plays were praised by both the teachers of the college and the directors who came to the performance. One day, they even firmly promised to enroll her in the Moscow Art Theater troupe instead of graduation. However, when Alentova graduated in 1965, there were no offers. Then Alentova came to the Pushkin Theater for an audition — and immediately got a place, and soon her first major role — Raina Petkova in a play based on Bernard Shaw's play "The Chocolate Soldier." Others followed her. As the actress later said, she was generously offered interesting roles in the theater, so her affair with the Pushkin Theater dragged on for six decades.

Alentova also played her first film role immediately after graduating from college. It was the role of teacher Lydia Fedorovna in the film about fighter pilots "Flying Days". It was followed by two more — in the Soviet-Hungarian film "Stars and Soldiers" and in the TV movie "Such a short long Life". The next role was that of Katya Tikhomirova in Vladimir Menshov's film "Moscow does not Believe in Tears."

Alentova was favored by fate: no one could predict the full scale of success, and for various reasons, many stars of those years, including Irina Kupchenko and Margarita Terekhova, did not consider the role. Alentova brilliantly coped with the role — and together with her husband, she woke up famous literally the next morning after the release of the picture. The film was watched by about 90 million viewers, and Vera Alentova became the actress of the year according to a survey by the Soviet Screen magazine. Subsequently, there were no problems with offers from directors: she starred in such films as "Tomorrow was the War," "Time of Desires," "When the Saints March."

Always with the audience

After the collapse of the USSR, Alentova continued to work at the Pushkin Drama Theater, and starred in films, including Vladimir Menshov's "Shirley-Myrli" and "Envy of the Gods," which became popular with the public. In addition, she played in the films "The Groom from Miami" by Anatoly Eyramjan and the directorial debut of Nikolai Yeremenko Jr. "Son for Father". In total, Alentova has appeared in more than 30 films and TV series.

She continued to work on stage just as actively. In addition to serving at the Pushkin Theater, Vera Alentova collaborated with the Anton Chekhov Theater in the 1990s, where she played in the plays "Honoring", "The Emigrant Pose", "The Leaning Tower of Pisa". Since 2009, Alentova, together with her husband, has led an acting and directing workshop at VGIK. In 2011, together with Vladimir Menshov, they appeared on stage in the directorial debut of their daughter Yulia Menshova, the play "Love. Letters." And in 2022, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the artist, the Pushkin Theater released a benefit performance "Madame Rubinstein", where Alentova played the main role.

In 2021, Vera Alentova and Vladimir Menshov were admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of coronavirus. Vladimir Menshov died from complications caused by the disease. Doctors released Alentova from the hospital only on the eve of the funeral. The couple lived together for 58 years. According to eyewitnesses, the actress did not even find the strength to make a speech at the funeral ceremony. Only a little over a month later, she forced herself to appear on stage again in the play "False Confessions" based on the work of Pierre Carly de Marivaux.

Vera Alentova became ill on the morning of December 25, while saying goodbye to actor and director Yuri Lobotsky at the Mayakovsky Theater. The ambulance was already unable to do anything: despite the efforts of the doctors, the actress died on the way to the hospital. The cause of death is still unknown, however, according to media reports, the actress' hypertension has worsened in recent months.